1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for producing a combustible vapor, mixing gasoline (or other fuel) with air, for an internal combustion engine, more particularly, to vaporization devices for fuel for such engines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The internal combustion engine has been with us for a long time, since the designs of Christian Huygens in 1680 which burned gunpowder. Significant improvements over the years have been made in many areas of the engine, with the development of better fuels and better designs to burn those fuels. Since the development of the gasoline engine, one particular area that has seen advancement is the carburetor and carburetor/fuel injection systems. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,352 to Reimuller in 1976, the Applicant there noted that “[h]eretofore, virtually all internal combustion engines using liquid hydrocarbon fuel, such as gasoline or diesel oil, have utilized carburetors or fuel injectors to deliver the liquid fuel into the intake air, or into the combustion chamber, in the form of finely atomized mist, which is supposed to evaporate completely, with the result that some of the fuel is still in liquid form during the combustion state, and because of this it burns incompletely, leaving a considerable amount of unburned fuel in the exhaust to pollute the atmosphere . . . [which] . . . also means reduced efficiency, lower power output, and poor fuel consumption characteristics.”
Given such, different approaches to minimizing droplet size have been tried over the years as evidenced in a plethora of prior art patents. Some of the earlier inventors to consider actually utilizing vapor instead of liquid gasoline were Christian Reimuller (U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,352) in 1976, Arnold Feuerman (U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,843) in 1977, and S. Smith Sommervile (U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,570) in 1977. Reimuller's early attempt utilized vaporizing gasoline in a flash boiler wherein the gasoline would then instantly ignite when introduced to air. This method did reduce the amount of gasoline used, however, the instant ignition required the introduction of air to be in the combustion chamber itself and increased the explosive danger of an engine. Feuerman's device, instead of utilizing a boiler, creatively passed electric current through an electrolytically conductive emulsion of gasoline and water.
Unfortunately, modern engines are not equipped to handle the introduction of water, even in vapor form. Feuerman, who has been prolific, also obtained related U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,133,847 (1979); 4,246,082 (1981); and 4,276,131 (1981) which suffer from the same difficulty. Sommerville, utilizes a somewhat simple vaporization system wherein fuel is atomized into a vaporizer chamber and contained hot water pipes extending through the chamber heat the fuel to promote vaporization, and baffles are utilized to “catch” non-aerosolized droplets. Air is “fed” into the chamber by means of engine vacuum pulling air through the chamber. The difficulty with the Sommerville device is the need to heat the chamber and the lack of control over the exact air/vapor mix. Later devices such as that introduced in 1980 by Perepolkin (U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,485), also suffer from similar deficiencies such as utilization of water in the admixture or utilization of engine vacuum by Strem et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,191,153 (1980) and 4,257,366 (1981)).
Therefore, what is needed in the art is a device that is compatible with modern engines which provides a reliable concentration of fuel vapor mixed with air without relying on external heating to produce the vapor since that would require pre-heating of an engine).